Munich Re opens Thailand office

Munich Re has opened a representative office in Bangkok and appointed Lucien Heijstee as chief representative for Thailand.

Heijstee (pictured) joined the global reinsurer in January from P&C firm Thaivivat Insurance. At Thaivivat, Heijstee was executive vice-president for underwriting and reinsurance, as well as a member of the management board for almost 10 years.

Roland Eckl, chief executive, Munich Re Asia Pacific, for Japan, Korea, India and South-East Asia, commented: “We see Thailand as a strategic growth market in South East Asia, where we have made a long term commitment to our clients. This new milestone will enable us to enhance our existing relationships with local and international insurers and develop new partnerships here in 2019 and beyond.”

Eckl, who is based in Singapore, added: “With his longstanding experience and deep knowledge of the Thai market, [Heijstee] is well positioned to understand our clients’ needs. He will connect them to the broad range of global capabilities we offer across traditional reinsurance, capital management solutions, data analytics and cyber protection services.”

Swiss Re and Thai Re are already well established in the fast growing country which has a host of domestic and foreign insurers serving the 69 million strong population.